Latest Update: November 20, 2001

Tony Hawk Signs With The Mouse
Disney has snapped up the rights to Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder, for a biopic that Hawk himself will executive produce through his production company, 900 Films. Talk about keeping your friends busy. . .

Mervin Manufacturing Silliness
The Seattle Post Intelligencer believes Mike Olson and Pete Saari are on the "cutting edge" of snowboarding. They were also a little shocked by the way the business is run. But then, who wouldn't be. "Let's put it this way," said Snowboard Connection owner John Logic. "I don't think either Mike or Pete colored inside the lines as children."

McKnight Says Quik Good Long Term
In and interview with The Wall Street Transcript Quiksilver's CEO explains that his company is something investors should look at long term. "We have good brands," he said. "We're in a very good demographic."

Tristan Prettyman Interview
You may have seen her as the contents girl in Happy Mag or ruling the isles at the ASR Show, but there's more here than a rockin' rig. Tristan also sings and writes songs; deeply felt, honest, hypnotic songs. And damn, the music is tight. Click here to download an MP3.

The Whole Bluetorch Story
TransWorld Surf Biz's Sean O'Brien gets to the bottom of the recent Bluetorch sale and purchase agreements with Marvin Winkler and Ian Cairns.
-OC Register story on Bluetorch

Swell Becomes Mail-order Only Site
Some Swell.com visitors will be surprised this week when they type in the URL only to find a page filled with T-shirts and flip-flops for sale. In an explanation posted November 3 it was all explained as a "marriage between two media companies." Swell will now be the mail-order site while Surfing Magazine takes over the editorial duties in "The Magazine" section. While the original plan seems dead, we're not dancing on Swell's coffin just yet.

Jew In The Lineup
In what sounds more like a story out of the Onion, the LA Times profiles Rabbi Nachum Shifren, a Hasidic Jew who loves surfing so much that he wrote a book titled "Surfing Rabbi.". First interview question (and we're not kidding); "Does your beard get in the way when you're surfing?"

Actor On Trial For Altercation with Skater
Actor C. Thomas Howell went on trial last week on five misdemeanor counts after hitting 20-year-old skateboarder Shawn C. Burgess with his truck in December in Reseda. After leaving the scene the 35-year-old returned with a hammer and threatened to hit him. If convicted, Howell faces more than four years in jail.

Gudauskas Bros Profiled
San Clemente favorite surfing brothers Patrick, Dane, and Tanner get some cool coverage in the LA Times as writer Eric Sondheimer follows them around for the day.

Miami Herald Likes Dogtown and Z-Boys
Writer Rene Rodriguez says, "A raucous look at an equally raucous phenomenon, Dogtown and Z-Boys is an affectionate, engrossing snapshot of the 1970s California skateboarding scene and its far-reaching influence on American pop culture." Couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Huntington Pro/Am Surf Series Grows
Founder Seth Matson has piloted the series through seven years of growth and as it wraps up for another year there he has no plans for slowing the event down.

Hawk, Microsoft, And Taco Bell Hook Up
In a three-way powerhouse deal Taco Bell is giving away X Boxes and Tony Hawk's new Pro Skater on X Box features Taco Bell banners. How's that for cross marketing?

Man Pleads Guilty to Killing Skateboarder
According to he San Diego Union, "Minutes before he was to go on trial for the shooting death of a young skateboarder, Ruben Tadepa changed his plea to guilty at the urging of the victim's stepfather.

Internet Fight Of Bongo Boards
KZT Sports takes Balance Designs to U.N.-backed World Intellectual Property Organization in fight to get the domain Bongoboard.com which Balance registered in 1999.

Anderson and Fawcett Use by Nat. Team
Olympic snowboarder Jasey Jay Anderson doesn't like the idea of having his and Mark Fawcett's names used by the Canadian National Team to get sponsors that neither of them see any benefit from. It's called sharing, Jasey.
-Anderson best medal hope for Canada

Kelly Clark Up For Auction On Ebay
Thinking it a clever way to attract attention and raise funds for the US Olympic Team, marketing people have placed meetings with athletes like Clark up for sale on the online auction site. Click here for the whole list of people and things.

Big Wave Hunting Is Serious Business
LA Times writer Pete Thomas explains just how difficult it is now for surfers to hunt down the Billabong Odyssey's 100 foot wave. You really have to be a professional. Does the word "duh" mean anything to you Pete?

AOL Selling Some Magazines?
According to the New York Post, AOL Time Warner is said to be quietly talking about selling some of the magazines picked up when Time Inc. purchased Times Mirror Magazines a year ago for $475 million. Time Inc President Don Logan denied the story.

Quiksilver Suspends Alex Goes Line
Quik CEO Bob McKnight said that due to the economic climate the company would put it "on sabbatical for a while." Apparently saucy soccer moms either squeeze into Roxy or they wear nothing at all.

Spike Jonze Working For the Fed
Action Girls In Maxim
Hosoi Sentenced to Six Years
Shop Owner Charged With Rape

Previous Bags o' Crapola:
-October 25, 2001
-September 6, 2001
-August 20, 2001

Special thanks: to Jim Romenesko's MediaGossip.com